Canada’s manufacturing trade declined 2% to $70.4 billion in August as petroleum and coal
sales slumped on lower prices, according to Statistics Canada.
August marked the fourth consecutive month of decelerating manufacturing sales in Canada.
The latest drop was the result of petroleum and coal sales that fell 3.9% to $9.9 billion in
August, as well as chemical manufacturing sales that declined 4.5% to $5.6 billion in the month.
In all, Canadian manufacturing sales in constant dollars dropped 1.7% in August, indicating a
lower volume of goods sold.
In a separate report, Statistics Canada said that wholesale sales in August gained 1.4% to
reach a record high of $81.3 billion.
The wholesale sales gains were led by the miscellaneous goods subsector that rose 3.9% to
$12.8 billion, and also a 13.2% gain to $5.2 billion in the agricultural supplies industry.
